Religion as last refuge

Tuesday 10th January, 2023

Former Minister Mervyn Silva has crawled out of the woodwork and is employing infantile theatrics, as is his wont, to attract media attention. He seems to have succeeded in his endeavour albeit to some extent. He was recently sighted in Kurunegala, where he ordered the demolition of a building resembling the Dalada Maligawa within two weeks. A section of the building has already been pulled down!

Silva is a demolition expert, who served the Mahinda Rajapaksa government very faithfully for about a decade. That regime earned notoriety for arson attacks on some media institutions as well. Today, Silva is in the Maithripala Sirisena faction of the SLFP. Old habits are said to die hard. Is it that once a demolisher, always a demolisher? Former President Sirisena never misses an opportunity to wax eloquent on the virtues of non-violence and quote extensively from the Dhammapada!

The past few weeks have seen a sharp rise in religious fervour in this trouble-torn country with some government politicians vowing to save Buddhism, which they claim is under threat. They were heard thundering in Parliament recently, denouncing certain people who, they said, posed a threat to Buddhism, and called for action against the latter. This is widely considered an indication that the local government elections will be held soon. Having bankrupted the country and incurred the wrath of the public, the government seems to be trying to endear itself to the Buddhist constituency. A YouTuber has been arrested for denigrating the sacred tooth relic.

Freedom in a democratic society is not coterminous with that of a wild ass. Irresponsible behaviour of some so-called social media influencers, who exude narcissism from every pore, is reprehensible, and only benefits the ruling party politicians bent on curbing people’s freedoms and rights, on some pretext or another. The YouTuber concerned has unwittingly helped the beleaguered rulers with their efforts to marshal popular support for their plan to gag the media.

One’s right to profess a religion or remain areligious cannot be questioned. But the denigration of religions to the extent of hurting the feelings of their followers cannot be countenanced on any grounds. One should be able to take a critical view of religions and religious practices if one so desires, but that is something to be done in conformity with civility with care being taken to ensure that they are not affronted.

The CID swooped on the social media activist in two shakes of a lamb’s tail for allegedly insulting the sacred tooth relic. But the police are still groping in the dark about the Schaffter killing, and could not prevent a drug lord named Kanjipani Imran from fleeing the country after obtaining bail! The 14th death anniversary of The Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga fell the other day, but his killers have not yet been brought to justice. The masterminds behind the Easter Sunday killings are also at large.

There have been very serious allegations against the person responsible for the construction of the replica of the Dalada Maligawa, and they should not go uninvestigated. But the issue should be handled in a civilised manner within the confines of the law without the intervention of washed-up thugs looking for causes to champion and thereby remain relevant in national politics.

Ethno-religious issues are extremely sensitive and must be handled very carefully lest they should cause eruptions of impetuous passions with disastrous consequences. The country is beset with enough crises and certainly does not want another one to contend with. Hence the need for the likes of Silva to be kept on a tight leash while action is taken to address the root causes of religious disputes!

A country riven by racial and religious tensions is a tinderbox. Sri Lanka is a textbook case. If the self-righteous politicians who have embarked on a much-advertised mission to protect Buddhism practised what the Buddha has taught, this country would be a much better place to live in. Will those who have undertaken to save Buddhism care to abstain from killing, stealing, misusing the senses, wrong speech and intoxicants?

The police ought to explain why Silva has been allowed to take the law into his own hands again, and threaten people in public, the way he used to do under the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. He and others of his ilk are a threat to society, and must be treated as such.